A coin receiving and dispensing device, which has a built-in coin holder for holding coins according to denominations, and dispenses the coins in response to a command from a POS terminal or an ECR to dispense change, has been currently widely popular. Such a coin receiving and dispensing device is, for example, disclosed at Patent Document 1.
The coin receiving and dispensing device typically has a structure such that a group of various kinds of coins received from a coin receiving inlet, which is located at a front part of the coin receiving and dispensing device, is carried to a coin sorter, which is located at a back part of the coin receiving and dispensing device. The coin sorter has sorting holes, the sizes of which are determined according to denominations. A coin is dropped into one of the sorting holes according to a denomination so as to be held in a coin holder provided under the sorting hole according to the denomination. The coin held in the coin holder according to the denomination is carried by a coin dispensing belt, and a desired number of the coin are dispensed to a coin dispensing outlet by an operation of a coin shutter, which is freely advanced and retreated with respect to a coin carrying path on the coin dispensing belt.
In more recent years, to downsize the coin receiving and dispensing device, another type of the coin receiving and dispensing device has been proposed. The coin receiving and dispensing device has a structure such that a width of the coin holder of each coin is formed substantially the same as the diameter of the coin and a width of the coin dispensing belt is narrower than the diameter of the coin. Further, to reduce the number of coin replenishments, it is desired to increase the number of coins which can be held in the coin holder.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-245506